


a blast from the past

by evanescent



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Established Relationship, M/M, Timeline What Timeline, and jason "i have never had an original thought in my life nor any costume sense" todd, for kyle "i am not like other guys" rayner, lots of references to post-crisis canon things, this is a callout fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 08:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10849806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanescent/pseuds/evanescent
Summary: Jason gets Kyle's friends to talk about his early days as a Green Lantern. It ends up beingreallyembarrassing. Kyle retaliates by roping Jason's siblings into calling out his past costume choices.As they say, all is fair in love and dragging your significant other down.





	a blast from the past

**Author's Note:**

> recently i started reading kyle's run in green lantern vol 3 and i love him but boy are there times when i want to kick his ass. then i decided jason also needs a call out for something to be square, so this happened.
> 
> hope you enjoy this meta shitpost? i had, well, _a blast_ writing it

After all this time, Kyle should know Jason better than that. He should have _expected_ something like this.

His first indication is the fact the apartment isn’t quiet when he gets back; by all means, Jason should be already out on a patrol. Then Kyle notices an impressive collection of shoes and jackets in the hallway, which are definitely not his or Jason’s, and he slowly creeps into the brightly lit living room.

Guy is the first one to take note of him. “Hey, talk of the devil! Look who finally came.”

Kyle squints at the faces that turn into his direction, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing. Guy and John look way too comfortable sitting in a couple of armchairs Kyle is pretty sure Jason got from a garage sale; Jason himself is seated on a couch between Connor and Donna, on whose left there’s Roy.

Kyle doesn’t have a good feeling about this, but he tries to play along anyway. He quirks an eyebrow.

“Is it my birthday today or something?” he jokes, glancing at a table full of various snacks and beverages. Jason can be a surprisingly good host if he wants to.

Jason gives him a toothy grin that worries Kyle. “You wish,” he says. “It’s just, you know how you always tell me I should try to make nice with your friends?”

“Actually, I mentioned that maybe once –”

“So this is me. Making nice. Having a little chat,” Jason explains, stretching his legs under the table.

“Really,” Kyle says flatly, not buying it. “Strange how you failed to mention it’s happening tonight. Also, you’ve literally known Donna and Roy longer than I have.” When Jason just shrugs, completely unbothered, Kyle sighs and makes himself a puffy, comfortable armchair; their apartment is rather sparse when it comes to furniture. They rarely have so many guests at once.

“I suppose Wally isn’t coming?” Connor asks then and Kyle almost falls off his seat.

Jason cocks his head. “Oh, West? I called, but he’s pretty busy tonight. Said maybe he’ll drop by, but it’s unlikely.”

Roy laughs. “You should be happy. All this food would be already gone.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jason looks back to Kyle and he’s smirking again. It’s starting to become unnerving. “He told me some interesting things, though.”

“So, what are you guys talking about, again?” Kyle tries, feeling awfully out of loop.

“Jason wanted to hear some stories from your early days as GL,” John tells him mildly.

This is… not really what Kyle expected. He’s confused.

“Specifically, he asked for embarrassing stories,” Guy clarifies with a shit-eating grin.

“Like, I knew you were a loser from the moment I met you, but the things I’ve heard today, wow.” Jason shakes his head. “There’s so much I didn’t know.”

 _Oh_. Okay, this isn’t looking stellar, Kyle supposes.

“Yeah, before you came I was talking about what an irresponsible greenhorn you were during your short tenure with Titans,” Roy says and snorts. “Coming on time? Taking training seriously? These were strange concepts to you.”

“Well, and you had a dumb costume back then,” Kyle says before he can think better of it.

Roy crosses his arms over his chest. “Oh, getting cheeky, Rayner? This much haven’t really changed.”

“He did have some problems with authority and keeping quiet when he should, didn’t he?” Jason asks, turning to Connor.

“Well, that’s true,” Connor says because he’s honest like that. “Kyle was… rather a hothead. So much that he re-defined who’s the impulsive one in Green Arrow and Green Lantern’s team ups.”

“Come on, I wasn’t that bad,” Kyle protests on a principle.

Connor looks at him like he’s grown a second head. “And that time we went looking for you father? That was a fiasco on many fronts, if not all.”

Kyle winces at the mention of that; it kind of really was.

“Including when you tried to show me how to flirt, I’d say. It almost got us arrested.”

Oh, no. He remembers that, too.

Jason looks intrigued. “Care to tell that story?”

“There was this waitress. Christie, I think,” Connor starts, easily ignoring Kyle’s throat slash gesture. “When she brought our orders, Kyle took his shake from her and held her hands in his to warm them up.” Guy snorts into his cup. “He said something about never listening much to what other people have to say, but that he’d be willing to give her a chance to… convince him.” Roy is outright giggling now. “They were interrupted by her father who was from the police, though. That’s how we ended up getting into a fight with police officers.” Connor tilts his head to the side and sighs. “I admit, I had no romantic experience back then, but I found this display somewhat strange and uncomfortable to watch.”

“Someone’s flirting skills just got dragged,” Roy comments over the laughs and Kyle knows his face is red.

“For the most part, whenever Kyle, Wally and I would go out somewhere, and there would be women, it usually ended up backfiring at us somehow,” Connor adds.

“Oh, come on, you literally didn’t have to do anything and they were all over you, anyway!” Kyle exclaims.

Donna’s eyebrows raise. “That’s petty, Kyle. Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”

“Honestly, though, can you blame him for thinking with his dick sometimes?” Guy asks blatantly.

“You’re _so not_ helping my case right now,” Kyle tells him, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turns to John who remained quiet through the antics. “John, back me up. I wasn’t _that_ bad, right?”

John, looking slightly amused, says, “You know I have nothing bad to say about the work you did as Green Lantern then, Kyle.” And as Kyle lets himself feel a twinge of hope, John continues, “I do remember the first time we met out of costumes, though.”

 _Right_. Kyle can’t have nice things.

“Ah, I remember that as well,” Donna says with an acute grin. Kyle turns to her with a pleading expression; at one hand, he’s glad they’re past their, well, past and can bring up things from that time, but he’d prefer if she didn’t do it _right now_. “Your neighbor Allison seemed quite keen on posing for you in nude, didn’t she?”

Guy dramatically gasps and Roy chokes on his drink. Jason looks affronted. “ _Seriously_ , Kyle?” he asks, disbelief clear in his voice. “Doing something like that while you were in a relationship? With Donna, out of all people?”

“It was just an artistic exercise!” Kyle stresses even though this excuse sounds as weak as it had back then, if not weaker.

“And then you said something like, ‘Well, I’d feel better about finding you with some attractive naked guy if you had a sketch pad in your hands’,” Donna adds, doing quite a good impression of Kyle’s voice.

He sometimes regrets his friends have such good memory just as much as he regrets the things that came out of his mouth.

“Okay, this happened, I can’t deny,” he says eventually, running a hand through his hair. “And thinking back to it, I realize it looked bad…”

“Just like that time I came to find Jade hanging off of you as your new flatmate?” Donna asks, not pulling her punches.

Kyle doesn’t even know how to counter that. It’s good Donna missed that part where he found Jenny under his shower and later had a fight with her brother over a misunderstanding concerning her underwear.

He winces internally. These things _really_ make him look bad, now that he looks back to them.

“Wow,” Jason says, tapping fingers against his thigh. “I really would have felt an urge to kick your fuckboy ass if I knew you back then, wouldn’t I?”

Roy laughs. “Yeah, I have a feeling you two wouldn’t like each other very much.”

“Luckily for us, Kyle grew up since then,” Donna says with a small smile. Kyle takes it for what it is; if Donna wanted to, she could have brought up more things from the time they dated.

“We all make mistakes,” Connor adds.

“Green Lanterns more than most of us, apparently” Jason comments dryly. To John and Guy, he says, “No offense.”

Both sullen and embarrassed, Kyle watches as their guests start leaving, pointedly ignoring their jabs and goodbyes. Jason gets to cleaning up the table; it seems like he’s in far too good spirits as for someone who just found out about a lot of cringeworthy shit his boyfriend used to do. It annoys Kyle.

“Are you going to sit in your fake armchair and sulk all night?” Jason asks finally, standing in front of Kyle with his hands on his hips.

“You did this because I forgot to clean the bathroom this week, right?” Kyle asks instead, after turning it over in his head.

If anything, Jason looks even more amused. “Try again,” he tells him.

“Was it because I crashed your patrol with Robin and Lark the other night? I swear I didn’t actually mean it this time.” Jason shakes his head. “Okay, so… because I painted memes on your back when you were drunk last week and then shared it on snapchat?” Kyle risks asking.

Jason blinks. “You did that?” He looks thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I guess it explains the texts I got the next day.”

“Come on, I’m running out of ideas here,” Kyle says. “Like, it can’t be because I accidentally mentioned to Alfred I found your secret cigarette stash?” Kyle narrows his eyes when Jason remains quiet. “Oh my God, it’s that?”

“Ding-ding, someone hit a jackpot,” Jason announces in a deadpan voice.

Kyle throws his hands up. “It was over a month ago!”

“Didn’t you know? I can hold a grudge. Ask Bruce. And besides,” Jason adds, jabbing a finger at him, “since I don’t smoke anymore, it’s not a _secret_ stash, it’s an _emergency_ stash and you outed me like that, to Alfred, no less. Geez, Kyle, thanks for nothing.”

“I literally can’t believe you,” Kyle tells Jason as he starts walking towards the bedroom.

“Right back at you, mister ‘there are guys who make embarrassed to have a Y-chromosome, but I’m not like those jerks’,” Jason calls back without even turning around.

It takes Kyle a moment to place this particular blast from the past. Once he does, he facepalms. “Damn, Donna,” he mutters under his breath.

And because he’s a responsible adult, Kyle, still sitting in his comfy, not-real armchair, starts plotting his revenge.

…

When Jason steps into the living room at the Manor, he does a double take and feels a strong urge to leave immediately.

The long table from the dining room was moved in at some point, so Kyle, Tim, Dick and Damian, sitting behind it now, look more like a jury than anything else. On one of the sofas, propped up on some cushions, there’s Cassandra, reclining like a cat, and she waves at Jason with a grin upon spotting him. He narrows his eyes at her and turns his attention back to the table.

“Well, this looks like a staged intervention,” he comments dryly, leaning on the doorframe. “I have no idea for what reason, though.”

“Close, but that’s not it,” Dick answers airly. “It’s a bit late for an intervention, in all honesty.”

“But it’s not too late for a… discussion,” Kyle adds and Jason has a hunch what “discussion” means in this case. “About some of your rather misguided costume choices.”

Jason blinks at them once, twice, then starts laughing. “Hey, seriously? This is how you want to get back at me? Couldn’t you come up with something better? I mean, you realize who you’re sitting with, right?” Jason gestures to Dick who, to his credit, doesn’t even move, except for a tiny twitch of a muscle in his jaw. “I’d say this merry company will make this whole show lose some of its credibility.”

“Stop using Grayson’s dark fashion past as means of distraction, Todd,” Damian says, straightening in his seat. He still looks relatively small compared to the others. “We’re here to discuss _yours_.”

“Okay, well then, squirt. Hit me up with what you’ve got,” Jason states cheerfully, walking into the room and taking a seat in one of the vacant chairs. “I mean, it’s not like you’re gonna drag me for the Robin suit, are you? Not my fault Tim was the first one to actually show some, you know, common sense and campaign for actual _pants_.”

“Yeah, that was wise,” Tim agrees thoughtfully. “But that wouldn’t be fair indeed. The costumes that came after, though, they were all up to you, weren’t they?”

“I guess,” Jason answers, careful now.

“Great,” Dick agrees and opens – is that a folder? “Remember when you came back to Gotham to become a crime lord? Dressed like that, no less.” He flashes a picture.

Jason smiles a little, almost nostalgic. “Ah, right. Those were the times.” Then, he glowers at them. “Hey, but I will have you guys know this was a look, okay? Minimalistic, sure, with a black leather jacket, but still.”

“Ignoring the fact it doesn’t look like it did much as a protection factor,” Damian comments, glancing at the photo, “I suppose this… outfit was the least heinous out of the ones you wore back in time.” The others nod.

“Hey, what’s that supposed –” Jason starts, but Tim cuts him off.

“Anyway, are we going to talk about that time when Jason was posing as Nightwing in New York? We don’t have pictures, but –”

“ _No_ ,” Jason and Dick say in unison. Kyle’s eyebrows climb high on his forehead. Tim and Damian stare, visibly confused.

Jason makes an eye contact with Dick and is briefly thankful this is something they both agree on.

Dick clears his throat. “It would do no good to bring that up,” he says, his expression somewhat pained. “Let’s just say that Jay looked okay… till a point, I guess,” he finishes lamely. Jason grits his teeth quietly.

“Okay, that was weird, but maybe I don’t want to know the details,” Tim states after a moment of prolonged silence and shuffles through some pictures. He pulls one. “Hey, remember your murder Batman outfit?”

Jason groans. “Well, now I do, unfortunately.”

“What kind of a cowl was that supposed to be?” Damian sneers. “Like a close helm. You did take the _knight_ part to the heart, didn’t you?”

“Glowing eyes were such an overkill,” Dick muses.

“Well, okay, I can admit it was kind of bad.” Jason throws his hands up in the air. “But I didn’t trouble myself with fancy designs then, alright?”

“But you sometimes take time with your costumes,” Tim says, almost nonchalantly. “I mean, that time you came to Titans Tower to kick my ass?”

Jason feels his eyes go comically wide when he realizes what Tim is referring to. He leans out of his chair. “No, hang on, that didn’t happen like that –”

“Oh, but it did,” Tim interrupts and, sure enough, flashes another photo.

“Now, this is a photoshop or something –”

“No, it’s not, Donna confirmed that,” Dick says without missing a beat.

“Traitor,” Jason whispers and glares when Tim speaks up again.

“You know, I’ve always wondered, did you sew the costume yourself? Like, I know they sell adult-sized Robin uniforms…”

(“They do?” Damian perks up. “What for? Shouldn’t we charge money for that?”

Kyle coughs. “You’re probably too young to know.”)

“…but it didn’t really look like one of the manufactured ones.”

Jason closes his eyes for a moment and sighs internally. So this is how it feels like when your past comes back to haunt you. He’s _almost_ sorry for doing that to Kyle the other day.

“If you must know,” he says finally, “I _did_ sew it myself. The ones they sell are usually of such a shitty quality, it’d probably tear at a stitch before I even threw one punch.”

“I knew it,” Tim mutters triumphantly and isn’t that kid just _plain weird_.

“Well, that was kind of extra,” Dick states, scratching his chin. “Then again, it’s Jason we’re talking about, so…”

“Dickie, you wanna go?” Jason offers lightly.

Kyle snaps his fingers. “Well, I wasn’t around for most of these, but here’s a thing that tagged along from our multiverse trip.” He points at something which Jason thinks is a sketch.

Tim makes a displeased noise in the back of his throat. “I thought we agreed we’re not bringing in Red Robin,” he says, irritated. “I _am_ wearing it now.”

“Yeah, but it kind of suits you, I guess?” Kyle tilts his head to the side. “I mean, except for the fact it looks like a rip-off of Dr. Mid-Nite.”

Jason snickers. “Still better than comparing the cowl to a dil–”

“ _Jason_ ,” Dick says, a warning in his voice.

Tim’s expression is pinched. “Is that what you guys think of it? Really?”

“Well, then again, you can’t be exactly blamed for that,” Jason says, shrugging. “It’s another mantle you picked up after me. Like, haven’t you had an original idea in your life, kid?”

“To be fair, you weren’t the one who came up with it, either,” Kyle butts in before Tim has a chance to snap.

Dick looks pensive. “Actually, you’re the one who kept claiming already used identities, Jay. I mean, Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin, Batman? Even the Red Hood.”

Jason opens his mouth to argue, then closes it, and opens it again. Eventually, he grumbles, “Are you done having fun at my expense?”

“Never,” Damian replies with a smirk. In a dramatic move that probably runs in his blood, he selects another photo and throws it across the table. “We have this atrocity left.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dick agrees. “That was bad. Like, real bad.”

“As the Internet would say, cursed outfit,” Tim adds.

“You’re talking about the one I had when Dickie was running around as Batman?” Jason asks, running a mental check in his head. “It wasn’t _that_ bad.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Kyle stares at him. “I mean, disrespecting white-red-black color scheme like that, Jason? It hurts my eyes to even look at the pictures.”

“That skull at the front… Was it supposed to give off, like, metal vibe or something? It kind of made you look emo,” Tim continues flatly.

“And the cape going with it was just tasteless,” Damian states. “Shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

“Plus, red guns, they were really tacky. And the worst of all, _the helmet_.” Dick massages his temple. “How the hell could you think it was a good idea? You criticize Tim’s cowl, but do you know how bad this looked like? It was hard to take you seriously, I swear.”

“Later I changed the helmets and ditched the cape,” Jason tries to defend himself.

“Well, yeah, thanks to that you went from _absolutely terrible_ to _still terrible_.”

“Like, seriously, Jason, this is a whole lot of bad costume choices,” Tim says, gesturing to the pile of pictures all over the table. “What even did you do with these things?”

Jason shrugs. “Most of them I keep in a storage I have in East End –”

“ _That’s_ what you keep there?” Kyle asks, shock audible in his voice.

“Among stuff like weapons, yeah.” Jason looks at him, frowning. “And what did you _think_ I keep there?”

“I don’t know, another library of books? Old motorbikes? Not monstrosities like these.”

At that, Cassandra laughs. Truth be told, Jason forgot she was even in the room with them, with how quiet she kept through this… ordeal. He looks in her direction and freezes.

“Cass,” he says calmly, evenly. “Is that a camera?”

“Yes.” She pats the device propped up on one of the cushions. “Recorded for Stephanie and Barbara.”

Jason gets up from the chair. “Cass, give me that camera,” he says, still eerily calm. She grabs it, jumping over the backrest, one eyebrow raised in a challange. Jason adds, “Please.”

“Sorry, little brother, but no,” Cassandra answers and a moment later, she’s already across the room. Jason is fast, but not as fast as her; in the doorframe, he almost collides with Alfred.

“Master Jason,” the butler says, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

“Sorry, Alfie, but this is a matter of my dignity,” Jason explains hurriedly, trying to pass him. Alfred only arches an eyebrow just like Cass had moments ago. There’s a slam of the door somewhere down the hallway.

“Not that I do not find this matter important, of course, but I believe, sooner or later, we must face consequences of our actions. Besides,” he adds, over the roaring of an engine coming from the outside, “I believe this is a sound Miss Cassandra driving away with Master Duke.”

Jason swears loudly and turns back to his boyfriend and brothers who are laughing shamelessly (even Damian, that little demon, can’t hold back a grin). He honestly hopes they all end up falling off their chairs on their sore asses.

“You better hope you get a call up to space, Rayner,” Jason says sweetly. “In case you forgot, we’re scheduled for our monthly sparring session day after tomorrow and you’re gonna get your ass handed to you six ways to Sunday. And you _won’t_ like it, I assure you.”

…

(bonus.)

A few days later, battle dust has mostly settled and the morning finds Kyle in the kitchen, making pancakes. He’s humming a song and it takes him a moment to realize someone is standing behind him. He turns around, ring ready.

“Shit!” he exclaims, almost dropping the spatula. “Artemis? What are you doing here? How did you even get inside?”

“Magic, of course,” the Amazon says, like it’s obvious. Well, Kyle supposes it is. “Is the Little One here?” she asks with a strange, almost pained expression on her face.

“Yeah, in the shower.” Kyle frowns. “Did something happen? Should I get him?”

“No, by all means,” she replies immediately. He is confused until Artemis asks, “Do you know the location of his storage?”

Kyle stares at her for a moment and snorts. “I take it you’ve seen the video.”

“Pictures as well.” She clenches her jaw. “Some of these things need to be disposed of immediately. Bizarro and I will see to it.”

“But you won’t destroy like, everything, right?” Kyle asks, just to make sure; he’s already sold on the idea.

Artemis gives him a flat look, one that reminds Kyle that as much as he may like Jason’s teammates, he keeps his distance for a reason. He rattles off the address.

“Thank you. Your cooperation is appreciated,” Artemis says.

“This conversation never took place and I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kyle responds easily and turns around to flip a pancake. He thinks he hears Artemis chuckle before she’s gone again.

Jason is gonna kill him for this, sure, but at least Kyle will go out doing the world a favor.

**Author's Note:**

> @ comic writers/artists/etc, i just want to ask one thing: why do you do the things you do sometimes. your own characters wonder that, too


End file.
